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CIT Stays Proceedings in Conflict-of-Interest Suit Pending Resolution of Related CAFC Case

The Court of International Trade in a Feb. 24 order stayed a conflict-of-interest suit against the Commerce Department brought by Amsted Rail Co. involving its former counsel, pending resolution of a related matter against the International Trade Commission currently at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Judge Gary Katzmann said that resolution of the related case will likely be controlling on the issues in the present action (Amsted Rail Co. v. United States, CIT # 22-00316).

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In the case against the ITC, the trade court dismissed the suit for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction (see 2211150033). Katzmann ruled in that opinion that the court does not have jurisdiction to consider the conflict-of-interest claims until the end of the injury proceeding, saying jurisdiction before the proceeding concludes under Section 1581(i), the court's "residual" jurisdiction, is unavailable. While the case at the Federal Circuit makes the claims against ARC's former counsel as they relate to the injury proceeding, the present action concerns the conflict-of-interest arguments in the antidumping and countervailing duty investigations.